Bucs trade troubled cornerback Aqib Talib to Patriots

The Bucs made a last-minute deal before this afternoon’s trade deadline, sending troubled cornerback Aqib Talib to the Patriots, the team announced.

The Bucs received New England's 2013 fourth-round pick, giving up Talib and one of their seventh-round selections next year. There are no conditions attached.

Talib is currently serving a suspension for a violation of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. He is scheduled to be reinstated on Monday, after serving the fourth and final game of the suspension. The NFL's trade deadline was moved from Tuesday to today at 4 p.m. after Hurricane Sandy impacted several teams' operations.

Why did the Bucs do this deal? General manager said there were multiple reasons.

"The thing that you have to keep in mind as an organization is your body of work is what it is," he said. "(Talib) played well here for us. But at the same point, he’s got eight games left on his contract and his contract is going to expire. We have to look at everything when we make these decision and each player’s individual case."

The Bucs likely weren't going to re-sign Talib after his rookie contract expired at the end of this season. To that end, the team seemed determined to see this move through.

"There were a lot of conversations all day long," Dominik said. "I’ve been on my phone non-stop. The good thing about this trade is it provides us another fourth-round pick. The fourth round has been good to us. That’s where we got Mike Williams. That’s where, last year, we used that pick to get up and get not only Doug Martin but Lavonte David. The fourth round has been good to us. Now we have two of them."

After Talib's suspension was announced, Schiano said the team intended to keep Talib on the roster after his return despite his history of issues that includes two arrests.

"There are a lot of things that go into the decision, and I can just tell our fans and all the people who care about this, we're going to do what's best for the organization which is going to be what's best for everybody. So you've got to just trust us on this one," Schiano said last month.

"There are no absolutes for any of us in this world. I may not be here when he comes back. How do you know? That's the plan, yes. And we're going to move forward at that point. But like I say all the time to our team, things change day to day, week to week, month to month guys. I can't tell you exactly how things are going to be a month from now. I hope that we've won a bunch of games in a row. That's one thing I hope. But again, the plan is to have him back here with us."

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